PRIVATE & PUBLIC MINISTRY: OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL 30TH SEPTEMBER 2018

MEMORISE:

And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone. Matthew 14:23

READ: Matthew 5:14-16

14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Acts 13:1-2

1Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.

2 As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.

MESSAGE:

I would like to share an important truth with you today. To be effective in your assignment in life, you need both a private and public ministry. In private, you minister to the Lord with prayers and fasting, like Anna and the prophets and teachers in Antioch did (Luke 2:36-37). 

Many spiritual battles won in the public were settled in the place of private spiritual warfare. A good example to show the importance of private ministry is when Moses confronted the Amalekites in the place of private intercession. 

Moses was still grappling with the grumbling and murmuring of the people he was leading when the Amalekites confronted them with war. Immediately, he activated both a private and public ministry to tackle the Amalekites. 

He told Joshua t lead the physical battle, while he and his two lieutenants went into private spiritual warfare. Confirming the popular saying that the spiritual controls the physical, Exodus 17:11 says:

“And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.”

We can safely conclude that there is no success in public ministry without a solid private ministry. This principle is constant and revelant from generation to generation. It also applies to people in business. 

Even our Lord Jesus Christ combined these two dimensions of ministry, as seen in today’s memory verse. After public ministration, our Lord would retreat to His private ministry of prayer, where He recharged His spiritual battery.

However, private ministry without public ministry is like a sumptuous meal that is not brought into the banquet hall for consumption. As revealed in our Bible text, our light is not meant to be hidden under a bushel. 

We must be wary of being lopsided as Christians. Some of us even say “I am called to be this and not that” thereby limiting the extent to which the Lord can use us. There is no reason a prayer warrior cannot witness to the perishing souls around him or her. 

In the same vein, an evangelist who claims to be called to propagate the gospel may end up frustrated without a private ministry of intercession for the souls he or she is going out for. This is because we are not wrestling with flesh and blood when we go out to fulfill our public ministry (Ephesians 6:12). 

Beloved, God is speaking to you today so that you can fulfill your assignment in life. You can combine giving, which should be done in private, with witnessing. You can combine your evangelism with serious intercession. Make full proof of your calling by engaging in both private and public ministry. 

God bless you.

PRAYER POINT:

Introduce a balance into your private and public ministry. How often do you minister to God?

BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Isaiah 20-23, Mark 15:6-32

AUTHOR: PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE

HYMN 15: NEARER MY GOD TO THEE.

Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!
E’en though it be a cross that raiseth me,
Still all my song shall be, nearer, my God, to Thee. Nearer to Thee!

Though like the wanderer, the sun gone down,
Darkness comes over me, my rest a stone;
Yet in my dreams I’d be nearer, my God, to Thee. Nearer to Thee!

There let me see the sight, an open Heaven;
All that Thou sendest me, in mercy given;
Angels to beckon me nearer, my God, to Thee. Nearer to Thee!

Then, with my waking thoughts bright with Thy praise,
Out of my stony griefs Bethel I’ll raise;
So by my woes to be nearer, my God, to Thee. Nearer to Thee!